I’ve been hard at work on this new issue for the past few days — and I think it’s going to be one of my best yet. Inspired by the spirit of Doomed Queens past, I’ve written a piece about five ways Sarah Palin may yet be a Doomed Queen. There’s also an exclusive-only-for-subscribers raffle to win an autographed archival print ($90 value) of a drawing from the book.

For those of you in the New York area, I’ve included an events schedule for my Brooklyn gallery, Kris Waldherr Art and Words. It includes information about the upcoming Doomed Queens book launch and art exhibition, which (appropriately enough) will be a Hallowe’en celebration. Fun!

Though I know I mentioned this some time ago, but it’s still strange. I’ve been primarily identified on the web as ArtandWords.com for over a decade — and now it’s just little ol’ moi. To be honest, I feel a bit (for lack of a better term) exposed. But maybe these conflicted emotions signify that I’ve been hiding behind my old url in some strange way?

On the work front, I’m getting ready to take a small hiatus for a few days.My dear friend Lisa Hunt is coming to visit me this week! I’m very excited to have her as a houseguest. BTW, if you haven’t checked it out yet, Lisa’s new Fairy Tale Tarot journal is wonderful. I’m mentioned in a few of the posts too — I posed for her Goose Girl card. Go check me out in my costumed glory.

On a related note, Lisa posed for my Boudicca drawing for Doomed Queens. She brought much of her martial arts intensity to her task.* But that’s a subject for a separate post.

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*Did you know Lisa is about to test for her black belt? Amazing but true! I’m in awe of the woman.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this site redesign is that my url has migrated over to www.kriswaldherr.com, instead of artandwords.com. So please reset your bookmarks! Though the site at artandwords.com will still be operational for a little while (at least until the bugs on the new site are ironed out), eventually it will forward to kriswaldherr.com. In other words, artandwords.com will still be around, just not as it was.

Why have I done this, after over a decade of identifying myself so closely with artandwords.com/aka Art and Words? Believe me, it wasn’t an easy decision. When I initially chose artandwords.com as my author url, I did so because my name isn’t simple to spell or pronounce. I thought it would make it easier for people to remember my work, to find my site. And in some ways, it has.

However, over the years, it has created confusion. People think that Art and Words is the parent company, where I play only a small part — as if I’m a subsidiary working for a corporation, instead of the founding mama who created this site and my books. This has made it more difficult for me to take credit for what’s mine on this website, to claim authorship of my publications. I can’t tell you how many e-mails I’ve received addressed to “Art and Words”, rather than Kris Waldherr. After all, it’s Kris Waldherr who creates the art and words, not the other way around.

Anyway, I think my new logo clarifies this:

So welcome to KrisWaldherr.com. I’ve got a new logo. New url. New website. New content, including new pages for Doomed Queens. And (hopefully) new and easier navigation throughout.

It’s all good.

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*Now you can see why I haven’t been updating this blog so much. Site redesign is a lot of work!

1. I finished Doomed Queens.

2. Though I finished Doomed Queens, I’m still dealing with some last production-oriented details. So finished editorially, not finished design-wise.

3. Doomed Queens needs a website.

4. Yes, I’ve designed a teaser page, but it really needs a website.

5. My whole website needs to be redesigned. I know it’s a sad mess since I got hacked into several months ago and had to change ISPs.

6. Guess what I’ve been doing the past two weeks? Yes, I’m knee-deep in html and css and so on. I’m still not finished with the site, but getting close. Tentative launch date: August 7, 2008.

7. But there’s been good news for Doomed Queens.

8. Costco picked it up! “Attention, shoppers….”

9. There will be a point-of-purchase display for participating independent bookstores.

10. I want one for my gallery. I’m an independent bookstore. (Kind of. I do sell books in my studio-gallery.)

11. There will be an exhibition of Doomed Queens‘ art at my studio-gallery this winter.

12. The exhibition will be called “Royally Screwed: Doomed Queens through the Ages.” The opening will probably be Friday, October 29 — in time for Hallowe’en.

13. I’m going to create a window display for it at my studio-gallery. Maybe I’ll even include a faux guillotine to set the mood.

14. Actually, I’m thinking a lot about window display these days.

15. I want my gallery window to look like a Joseph Cornell box.

16. I wish I had more time to dive into it — maybe this autumn.

17. Also, on the gallery front: I’m planning to paint the area above my window cobalt blue with gold ornaments.

18. It will look like a medieval illumination. I hope.

19. I also plan to paint a large art deco-inspired tree on two walls. But in very subtle paint, almost like a paper watermark. (If walls can have watermarks.)

20. My friend Lisa Hunt just started a blog about her upcoming Fairy Tale Tarot. It’s very good!

21. She’s coming up north to visit me later this summer. I can’t wait!

22. Also on the social front: Two friends moved to my neighborhood, one into the apartment above my studio. My life feels like a sitcom.

23. I’m enjoying lots of café society this summer.

24. On the family front: Thea is potty trained. Hip, hip, hooray!

25. Tom is going away for three weeks to curate an exhibition in Germany. Yay for him, boo for us.

26. My father-in-law had a book published.

27. I designed the cover for it.

28. We all went away to Idaho for our vacation, right after my last blog post.

29. It was beautiful, but we lost electricity for three days after a giant tree fell in a windstorm.

30. Thea liked swimming in the lake. I liked reading lots of books.

31. We had a stop over in Colorado. They had lots of great book stores. We had to check an extra bag on our flight home.

32. Since our return to Brooklyn, I’ve been dealing with items # 1-19. I’ve also started opening up my gallery to the public Saturdays from 12 - 4.

And that’s the latest here! How was your July?

On the art end, I’ve six more full page drawings to go, out of fifteen. Most of the spot drawings are finished or can be filled out with old drawings and woodcuts. (Did I mention that I’ve included period art in Doomed Queens? These pieces range from medieval manuscript paintings to Victorian etchings. I think they give the book a rich playfulness.) Of these last six drawings, five of them are started (ie: sketched and transferred onto watercolor paper); one awaits a last piece of photo reference before I can start on it.

On the text end, my editor just sent me second page proofs. These mainly consist of moving a comma here, a sentence break there. In other words, we’re very close to the end and are just burnishing the manuscript to a sheen.

And what of the open studio for Kris Waldherr Art and Words, my little storefront studio-gallery? Well, it’s apparently engendered a lot of buzz in the ‘hood. Those who attended the open studio seemed stunned by what they discovered here and lingered a while to drink in the atmosphere. I guess Arts and Crafts-style ataliers aren’t run of the mill, even here in hipster Brooklyn. A typical comment: “I would have never expected to find this here. But then I would have never expected to find this anywhere. It’s so beautiful.” Based on others’ recommendations, people have been knocking on my door to view art, to buy books, ask questions about my work, solicit advice about publishing, and more.

This has forced me to consider what I intend for my studio-gallery. Do I want to be in retail? Not in the traditional sense — I don’t want to be a storekeeper or gallerina. But I do love the idea of creating an environment to share my work with the public, where the art and books on display just happen to be for sale. I also love the idea of hosting events where I can create experiences that offer beauty, wit and wisdom, especially if they inspire others to go forth and do good in the world.

In a much smaller, rudimentary way, Kris Waldherr Art and Words (the storefront) is my Red House. I intended it as a physical place where I could explore ideas about beauty and environment. The reason I chose to rent a storefront, instead of a private studio, was because it offered more opportunities for sharing with the community.

So toward that end, Kris Waldherr Art and Words will be officially open to the public Saturdays 12 to 4pm. In the autumn, we’ll start presenting events such as readings, a film series, even a tarot night or two. Click here for more information and a small preview of what we’re planning.

The entrance to Kris Waldherr Art and Words.

Art on display. Some of my children’s book paintings were hung at kid height, to be better appreciated by those under four feet tall.

The reading nook. Notice the artistic contribution by Thea.

More art on display. Many of the pieces are the small paintings from The Book of Goddesses and The Lover’s Path.

More work on display, including my Cupid and Psyche violin.

The kids really enjoyed looking at art. Here a few of them are discussing whether the pegasus is a cow or a horse or a bird. No consensus was reached.

Right now, I’m back to working on Doomed Queens. The end is in sight, which is a good thing — everything is due by July 7th (which is less than a month away. Yikes.).

Though I’ve posted this over on my “events” page, I thought I should mention this here.

I’m opening my new studio/gallery to the public for the first time in June, as part of the Flatbush Artists Studio Tour! Autographed books, art, prints, cards and decks will be available for purchase. 27 artists will be participating in this self-guided studio tour located in historic Victorian Brooklyn.

Here’s the pertinent info:

June 7 - 8, 2008, noon to 5pm:

Kris Waldherr Art and Words
1501 Newkirk Avenue (entrance on Marlborough Road)
Brooklyn, NY 11226

Directions: Q train to Newkirk Avenue. Studio is around the corner from subway.
Street parking is available.
Map and driving directions.
for further info: e-comment at artandwords dot com.

I hope to see some of you then!

This past week has been a flurry of appointments and preparations for our time away. I met with the good people at Doubleday, who were full of helpful advice and exciting plans for publicizing Doomed Queens. They’ll even be producing a Youtube video for it.

Toward that end, I’ll be relaunching my website, something I’ve been long planning — and equally as long putting off. But I now have no choice. Aside from it getting too close to my pub date, my ISP was hacked into last week, which disabled some of this site’s functionality. One example: I can no longer receive e-mail notifications for comments for this blog. So update I must!

You can grab an advance look at the front page teaser for www.kriswaldherr.com here. It features my new author photo by the illustrious photographer Nina Subin.

The studio/gallery is coming together. Now that the edits for Doomed Queens have been turned in, I’ve been able to focus more fully on getting the studio ready for the world (though I’ve been working there for the past month or so).

Next up, a friend who does exhibition design will be installing my window design. This logo is just one small element within it, which rests inside an art nouveau/Macintosh-inspired (the designer, not the computer) flowering tree that wraps around the front of my store window. I’ve also to hang some art up, though I’m not planning my first “official” exhibition until later this spring. So far, I have three exhibitions planned for the year, including one to commemorate the October publication for my book.

It’s a slow process — I now understand how setting up a retail space can take over one’s entire life. But when I consider how the storefront looked when I first saw it, I know I’m making progress.

During this time I’ve:

~ Finished the cover for Doomed Queens and hand delivered it to Broadway Doubleday. Fortunately, they were all very pleased with it! Once I have a scan, I’ll post it. Oh, and on a related note, there’s now an Amazon.com page for it, over nine months before the pub date — sort of like being pregnant, only with a book at the end instead of a baby.

~ Got Doomed Queens edits back from my editor. Final revised manuscript is due March 1st.

~ Along with those edits, I was asked to revamp the manuscript into a 32-page blad (book laid out and design). Doubleday plans to send the blad out to various publicity outlets in advance of my October 2008 publication — a very good sign that the-powers-that-be are excited and supportive of my book.

~ On top of this, I’ve been hard at work on the art for Nicki Scully and Linda Star Wolf’s The Anubis Oracle. This 35 card oracle deck and book set will be published by Inner Traditions/Bear & Co. this winter. I’ve finished just about everything save for the cover (below), which is still under development.

I also illustrated Nicki and Star Wolf’s Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt, which came out last year. The art for The Anubis Oracle is adapted from this book, using both digital and traditional watercolor techniques. It’s been a very intense process, since the deadline for it was hot on the heels of finishing the manuscript.

~ Am still moving stuff into the new-and-expanded Kris Waldherr Art and Words storefront. Everything is coming together nicely, though it’s a slow process! A friend will be helping me with my window signage later this month, as soon as I design my logo. I have a few ideas, but need to spend some time focusing. Which I will do as soon as I finish the queens’ edits and the oracle cover.

Toward that end, I love the idea of a somewhat arts and crafts-themed design, maybe a bit fin de siecle Vienna meets William Morris in the type treatment. But what’s giving me pause is the thought of branding: Whatever I ultimately choose to do will reflect on my business, my work as an author, and my art. So I need to plan carefully. I’m also planning a relaunch of this site sometime this spring, so I’d like to tie in my studio design with that for consistency’s sake. Anyway, lots to think of here!

And that’s the latest here. I did manage to take an afternoon off to see Persepolis, which I highly recommend. It’s wonderful — it gave me hope that we author-illustrators can make a difference in this world through our art and words, if we create powerful enough products that make it out there. I was simultaneously devastated and enthralled by it.